Shatner is American now?

Chris Hadfield took a very special phone call on Thursday morning, from Captain James Tiberius Kirk, himself.

William Shatner, Canadian celebrity and sci-fi icon, spoke with the Canadian astronaut for about 15 minutes about what it’s like to be in space, dreams of the future and even touching on a manned mission to Mars.

But then Shatner said something that flew under the radar for most people, except for a couple astute listeners.

Listening to the Hadfield/Shatner chat and Capt Kirk just asked if "we as Americans" are losing the space race.

It was unclear if Shatner was using the royal “we” or in fact insinuating that Hadfield is American.

Shatner was raised in Montreal, but in 2004 became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

But for most people, the idea Captain Kirk was speaking to a real astronaut aboard the International Space Station — both of them, ostensibly, Canadian — was good enough to forgive any nationalist transgressions.